We got up before the alarm at 7:22 and it was sunny. While stretching, we had the television on. We saw a crawler and then the anchor reported on a computer problem Delta had in Atlanta, which cause them to shut down worldwide. No Delta planes flying anywhere at that time. We hoped, that since our flight was so late in the day, that things would be up and running fine by then. This item on the news was the only word we got about this. We received no text message from Delta. Perhaps, that is why we didn't freak out at the time. In hindsight, maybe we should have, although it wouldn't have helped anything.
The bill for the hotel had been slipped under the door overnight. The keys still weren't working, so we had to have a clerk come down after breakfast to let us back in. You know, the ice machine on our floor was broken the entire time we were there. I sense that maintenance has not been maintained the way it should be.
By the time we got on the road at 9:45, it was overcast. At 9:51, we picked up our last toll ticket at 9:51, with the odometer reading 10843. I pulled into the Leavenworth Service Area 5 minutes and 6 miles later, being unsure of how far we had to go to get to our last place to visit. We were on the road again at 10:02 and 8 minutes and 7 miles later, we paid the $2 toll.
As we drove, we passed the Schlitterbahn water park, where a 10 year-old boy had died on the ride called "Verruckt" the day before. We could see the ride, which we recognized from the coverage on the news this morning. (I have since seen in the paper that he was decapitated!) It was a bit weird seeing that.
We arrived at 10:50 (10893) at McCormick Distilling Company to tour the Holladay Distillery in Weston, Missouri.
Back at the Visitor's Center, which is a 1950's-60's converted 2-story house, we got to taste two products each. My husband tried two bourbons, one of which was butterscotch.
We didn't buy any alcohol, but I bought a small snifter glass, like our samples had been in, and "rocks" for drinks as future gifts for my husband.
We were back in the car at 12:55 and my husband felt we had enough time to drive into Weston itself for lunch and maybe a shop. The town is old and set on a hill, with railroad tracks at the bottom of the hill. The main street is full of shops and restaurants. Unfortunately, most of the shops and some of the restaurants are only open on weekends. I suppose, they don't get many tourists during the week. Al at the distillery had said their slow day was Monday. It was disappointing about the shops, but lunch took a while, so it was for the best.
I parked on the main street at 1:02 (10895) in front of a closed for the day gift shop that also had taxidermy. I let my husband choose the restaurant and at 1:07, we were seated in the Tin Kitchen, which had painted pressed tin on the ceiling and walls. Booths were on either side of the narrow establishment, with a long high table stretching along most of the center.
While he finished up the bill, I hurried out at 2:06 to look for a shop whose flyer I had seen at the distillery. Unfortunately, it was closed. So, at 2:10, we were back on the road. I had to drive all the way around the rental car return area to reach the Phillips 66, which was the closest gas station to them. I pulled in at 2:40 (10912) and my husband filled it with 7.257 gallons @$2.199, which was the most expensive Missouri gas I'd seen. Two minutes later, we were moving on.
We arrived at Avis rental return at 2:44, with 10913 on the odometer. I'd driven 1723 miles in the past week! I told the guy that the car wanted an oil change and we headed into the rental facility. We rode down the escalator to find a bus there already to go to terminal B at the Kansas City Airport. We were on board at 3 and it left just two minutes later. By 3:13, we were at the Delta counter.
We'd gotten an email on the 7th, that our flights would be later than planned, now at 5:20. At the counter, the clerk said, our flight from there was on time and we were fine for the next flight, too. At 3:19, we'd paid for and dropped our luggage and needed to get food for dinner for later. My husband chose $5 worth of snacks and I paid $10.02 for a sandwich, which I planned to eat on the plane.
The KC Airport is a little weird, with its terminals being almost circular, with you entering on the inner circle and the gates on the outer circle. So, TSA security checks are for several gates that have a snack shop or two. Our area also had a restaurant upstairs. There was no line when we went through TSA Pre and there were quite a few people inside awaiting flights.
We found seats along the wall and my husband went off to charge his phone. Our flight was very quickly delayed to 8 pm. At 6:55, Delta sent us a text to that effect and also noted that our Atlanta flight would depart at 12:44 am. We would still make that. We contacted our daughter and told her to monitor the situation. An instrument dealer that my husband knows was also awaiting our flight to Atlanta and we all wound up sitting near the charging area. Our flight got pushed back again to 10 pm, without an announcement. I only found out by seeing a departure schedule screen when I was taking a walk. We could not see the message board at the gate, because of the way it was set up. I checked with our daughter, who found out our Atlanta departure was pushed back to 1:30 am.
Some flights were taking off. The desk clerks really couldn't handle questions about our flight, due to working with other flights. My husband tried to get information and even to see if there was room on a flight that had been scheduled to leave after ours, but now left before ours. However, the clerk kept disappearing. They did announce they were putting out snacks and coffee. These snacks turned out to be the ones they sell- Swedish fish, pretzel nuggets, etc. We picked up several.
We were finally the only flight left and there were few of us at that. In fact, when they finally called us to board, they started to call zones and then just said forget it and let us all get in line. There couldn't have been more than 15 passengers. We had no idea where the rest were. They told us we couldn't go to any seats other than our assigned ones, so as to not unbalance the plain. A father from Satellite Beach and I agreed that was a crock. Finally, they said we could spread out, just don't be on just one side of the plane. We'd gotten on at 9:25. No one came for seat 22A, so my husband moved into that from B.
At 9:41, Delta Flight 2256 to Atlanta pushed back and took off at 9:54. The captain apologized for the delay and thanked us for our patience, just as the ground people had kept announcing. Even though I started watching before takeoff, I wound up missing the last two or three minutes of the documentary about Anderson Cooper and his mom, Gloria Vanderbilt, called Nothing Left Unsaid. It was really good. My husband tried to sleep. They brought us drinks and a bag of pretzels. I figured I'd doze on the next flight.
When we landed at 12:28 am on the 9th, I took my phone off of airplane mode and immediately got a text from our daughter telling me to let her know as soon as I got it. I texted, "Got it. Why?" and the phone soon rang. She found out the next flight was cancelled. I asked her to look it up on line and she needed my ticket number. Once that was in, it said I had to rebook. I had to rebook? Wasn't that Delta's job for cancelling the flight? I told her I'd be back in touch and then told the Satellite Beach family about the cancellation. No flight person said a thing about connecting flights.
When we got off, there was an entire gateload of people waiting, obviously for the next flight from there. The line at the counter was long. I looked up a board with "Connections", but Orlando was not listed. In fact, I saw no departure boards anywhere. As we moved out into the terminal, we saw the Delta help desk with a huge line stretching down the corridor. There was only one Delta employee at the desk. One person was on the help phones along the wall and I wondered why others weren't.
We got in the back of the line, behind the Satellite Beach family. There daughter was to start 9th grade on the 10th and they were anxious to get home.We traded ideas about how Delta could be handling all of this better.
After taking turns for the restroom, my husband went to a nearby gate to try to get info, just as the Satellite Beach wife had. He came back saying, he'd found out we'd been rebooked by Delta on a flight leaving not long after 4 pm on the 9th. That just wouldn't work. Not only did I have an eye appointment at 3 pm, but he had to start the colonoscopy prep at 4.
The Satellite Beach father came back from a supervisor at a different gate, saying he had seats on another flight to Orlando leaving soon. I sent my husband to that gate and he was soon waving me over. The supervisor said, she thought there were seats, but we had to hurry, as the gate was closing soon.We were given Seat Request tickets. We were in Terminal D and had to get to A. We flew down to the escalator and in spite of my knees, I walked down. The train soon came and we got on, but it went the wrong way! It went one more terminal and then headed back.
It was so aggravating every time it stopped, because it kept announcing, that since it was on a modified schedule, it would wait longer for people to board. At Terminal B, it just seemed to wait forever. Once it stopped in A, we hurried up to gate 15, where we found many, many people sitting at the gate, a huge help line again, and a spot in line behind the Satellite Beach family. We weren't sure what the line was for. Some people were boarding the plane. Was this people waiting for seats? Waiting for info? It turned out to be just a line.
As a woman went by the help line, she evidently bumped a guy who said something. Things got ugly for a moment. No security was in sight. No Delta people were in sight, other than those behind counters. This did not seem to be a good idea.
We saw on the overhead monitor that there were still 42 seats unclaimed on the plane. The woman behind the counter got on the mike to tell everyone to step back from the counter and leave a path for people to board. Once they started on the standby folks, the Satellite Beach family was second or third called. This gave us hope. There was a long break. Then others were called- a pair, a group of 3, a pair, 4, etc. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason and it was taking forever. There were long pauses. Suddenly, a group of 6 was called. What the heck were they doing?
I was praying. I cannot say how many Hail Mary's I said. I was feeling numb and not optimistic. I saw something on the board about a flight to Orlando, but my husband said it was a mistake. He moved closer to the counter, to be sure he didn't miss our name. They said they were only going to say a name once and then move on. They did not stick to this.
A woman near me noticed the board above us saying the flight we'd been originally scheduled to take to Orlando was cancelled due to weather at the receiving airport. When she said something, I said it wasn't true. Not only had it been cancelled almost two hours ago, but there was no way there was a weather issue in Orlando that time of night. She seemed in a state of shock. She and her family had been there all that time awaiting that flight and didn't know it wasn't cancelled. We only knew because of our daughter. We'd only received the one text from Delta.
They finally announced the plane was full. A guy yelled, "What about us?" and exchanged angry words with the guy at the desk. They announced the counter was closing. The older woman who'd been telling people to get back now came out with cards on how to contact Delta. She was also quietly telling people how to find the Delta ticket counter, which was manned 24/7. I politely asked, if I could ask her one question. What about our checked luggage? She said, it would go on the first available flight to Orlando. It could even be on the one that just left. (Great. Luggage gets there, but we don't.)
I turned to my husband and said I wanted to go home. I wanted to rent a car. (Later, I found out that he felt the exact same way.) We dug into my carry-on and pulled out the folder holding my Avis rental agreement. I called the 800 number and found a very helpful young man on the other end, who set up a reservation for a car to start at 3 am. It was now 2:45. He could upgrade it, but we had little luggage. I thanked him profusely and wrote down the confirmation number. My husband raised his eyebrows at the $141.77 price tag (the week had been only $321), but I said we needed the car. We let our daughter know we were driving home and that she'd need to meet us at the house with the key. (Since she was our ride both ways, there had been no reason for us to take one.)
Now, we had to find our way to the car rental area. It was another train ride to a different terminal. Only one train was running now. We went out through the international arrivals area and headed for the restrooms. At 3:15, we were waiting for the Sky Train to the car rental center. We were not the only ones headed there, but there were people arriving at the airport. We thought, that they were there for stand-by on early morning flights. I posted on Facebook that we were driving home and asked for prayers, as soon as people saw it.
When we reached the rental center, not all the counters were manned. We arrived at the Avis counter with other people and the young woman behind the counter started yelling that unless you made a reservation before yesterday, she wouldn't honor it. The man next to me said, that his wife made the reservation at 2 o'clock. She just repeated what she'd said. We started going to the other counters and they all had no cars left. I deleted the request for prayers on Facebook. When we reached the Sixt counter, it had a sign that it was closed, but to go to their counter in the garage for service. Feeling defeated and that it was our last chance, we headed for the ground floor of the garage.
There was one young woman behind the counter and she seemed surprised to see us. She later said, it was quiet there at night. She did some searching for a one-way rental to Orlando. They normally don't like one-way rentals, but Orlando is an important destination. She was able to find a new red Prius for us. I didn't have my Sixt card, but when my info popped up, she waved the $11 fee to have my husband as a second driver. It didn't make much of a dent, but it helped. The final bill with a horrifying $480 and change. It couldn't be helped. We had to get home.This was probably the last car available in the Atlanta airport, based on what we'd seen.
Since I was rather aggravated, and thus awake and my husband looked sleepy, I said I'd take the first shift. When we set off at 3:52, the car had only 8 miles on it! My husband stayed up long enough to use his phone to get me to the interstate and to the bypass and to find me a radio station to my liking. I also asked him to repost the request for prayers on Facebook. It was raining some and the car took getting used to. Plus, I was tired. I said a rosary silently and sang with the radio at times. I noted the trucks all along the entrance and exit ramp at one exit and I envied them.
At 5:03, I couldn't do it any more and pulled into the rest area at exit 177 on I -75. At 5:11, we got back on the road with my husband behind the wheel and I passed out. I woke, when he crossed over some bumps when leaving his lane a bit. I helped him stay awake and we stopped at 8:17 (306 on odometer)at Marathon Gas. The car took 7.234 gallons @$2.059. We went in the store to use the restroom. My husband needed to start drinking Gatorade and I got him 2 bottles for $3.21.
I was driving, when we left at 8:30. I thought, I was okay, but was soon yawning. At 9:20 (268), I pulled into the McDonald's at exit 354. I got an Egg McMuffin, not noticing there was a special on 2, and a chocolate shake, which I'd been planning on since the airport. Coke can make me sleepy. I thought the sugar wouldn't.
I was back on the road at 9:32 and my husband's gentle snoring told me he was down for the count. I did a lot more singing. At 10:08 (403), I gratefully pulled into the Okahumpka rest area on the turnpike. That meant home was not that far away. My husband got a very large coffee and we got going again at 10:15. I called my daughter to tell her to head to the house. We also asked her to stop at the airport and see if she could find our luggage at the airport. She told us to drive slower. I dozed off, but had to keep waking up to fish out tolls. At 10:26 (415), it was $3. At 10:48 (440), it was $1. At 10:52 (443), it was $1.25. We reached the Semoran toll at 11:01(451) and paid another $1.25. University Toll Plaza was reached at 11:06 (457) and cost $1. My husband needed to stop at the university to pick up his computer and had me call the secretary, so that he could ask her to meet him with paperwork he needed to sign.
We got to UCF at 11:15 pm (461). It was too hot to sit in the car and they did have a restroom, so I went in, too. I stiffen up after sitting, so he went ahead of me. When I came out of the restroom, he was nowhere to be seen, so I walked down to his office. He wasn't at that office, so I sat on a sofa nearby and seriously considered sleeping. But, he called me on the phone to find me and I went out to the car with him. We left the campus at 11:25 and got to our house at 11:44 (466). We got the mail and put the luggage by the front door to await our daughter. I posted on Facebook that we'd made it safely.
She kindly went off to get lunch with McDonald's coupons for herself and me after letting us in. We watched some of the Olympics, while eating. Then, I took a vitally needed nap. She woke me at 2:10, so that I could get conscious before our eye doctor appointment. My husband would be starting his colonoscopy prep while we were gone.
We always enjoy those appointments, because of the good conversations with our doctor. When we came out, it was pouring. We sat in the waiting room, choosing our dinner from the Chili's app. By the time we'd finished, it was not really raining. We were going to be 15 minutes too early to get our food, so we went into the Target, whose parking lot it shares, to get milk, bread, etc. We even found cheese cinnamon buns for dessert.
While we were gone, my husband figured out how to look up the location of our luggage online. He found that it had come in on a late afternoon flight.
After dinner, I got back in the Prius and she got in her car at 6:52. She followed me pretty well. I paid the toll at University at 7:08 (474). At 7:15 (482), I paid another $1. The Bee Line wasn't too busy and at 7:29 (490), I was at the WaWa on South Semoran. The car took 4.504 gallons @$1.999. We were back on the road at 7:34. At 7:41, I was at the Sixt down the road to turn in the Prius. It now had 492 miles on it. We'd put 484 miles on it today. If I was forced to give up my diesel Jetta, I might seriously consider a Prius based on the great mileage I saw today. It doesn't have much pick up or a great trunk, though.
Anyway, my daughter then drove me to the airport. We debated the best way to handle it. She took me to the Arrivals level and planned to wait a few minutes, while I went inside, then go park. But, a cop was whistling at her rather soon and she left just about the time I found my suitcase at Carousel 32. It is an easy color to find. Unfortunately, the handle would not raise. I soon found my husband's bag. I called my daughter and said not to park. She was just through the parking gate and would come back around. I took the opportunity to go to the restroom. Luckily, my suitcase has 4 wheels and I was able to move it by the short handle.
My daughter fought the luggage into her trunk and drove me back home. As she drove, I posted on Facebook the good news, that while Delta couldn't get us home, it could get the luggage home. Once we sent her off to her home, I could get ready to get up at 6 the next day to take my husband to his colonoscopy.
I never want to go through a day/2 days like that again. We really feel blessed that we could get the car in Atlanta and to get our luggage the same day seemed like a miracle, based on what a mess Delta was. I think, they canceled 1000 flights on the 8th, another 250 the 9th and still more the 10th.
I filed a complaint with Avis for saying I had a reservation, when no car was available. They sent a lame email within 24 hours saying that the reservation couldn't be guaranteed, since it was made less than 48 hours ahead. I was not told that on the phone.
I filled out a survey that Delta sent asking about how they handled the recent problems. I gave them an earful. I did include the suggestion that there be more personnel around to help people. I also said they should train ground personnel to deal with an angry public, giving them the teacher trick of speaking quietly and apologizing.
This took a long time to type. I'll add pictures to the trip blog soon.
